OUR VOICES FILM FESTIVAL

WELCOME TO OUR VOICES FILM FESTIVAL 2018!

Our Voices Film Festival

OUR VOICES Short Film Festival is the brainchild of Aiden Cumming-Teicher a young actor and film-maker who feels that young people aren’t always heard, even though they have a lot to say. The hope is that the creation of this film festival allows other youth to find their voices too, to express their points of view and tell their stories.

The festival will culminate with a live screening of the finalists in their categories at the Cinematheque Theatre in Vancouver British Columbia on November 10th, 2018. Awards will be given out and announced at the end of the screening, so filmmakers and their families and friends are encouraged to attend!

This film is open to all youth who want to submit, ages 5 – 20. We ask that at least one of the categories is youth driven ( actors, director, writer, cinematographer). Drama, Comedy, Documentaries, PSAs , all are welcome.

Our festival has nominal entry fees; we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to enter and participate. We also accept experimental/smart phone films to be submitted!

AWARDS & PRIZES

All official selections will get official laurels via email.

We will be awarding the following categories at the live screening:

• Best International Production
• Best BC Production
• Best Canadian Production
• Best Microshort ( 1 min or less)
• Best PSA/ Awareness ( 1 min or less)
• Best Director
• Best Experimental
• Wildcard award

Additional awards may be given out at our discretion at the screening.

All finalists will all be awarded certificates via email, but if you are attending the live screening please let us know and we will present you with one in person.

RULES & TERMS

By submitting, you are assuring us that you have the rights to the material in your film, and have obtained any necessary permissions and talent releases. We do not take any ownership of your material and make no warranties that we will be able to include your film.

By entering, you also grant us permission to share your film in possible secondary screenings including partner festivals and online if your film is selected.

This film festival is open to all youth who ages 5 – 20; at least one of the categories have to be filled by people in that age range. ( actors, director, writer, cinematographer).

We strive to be a green festival, so only accept digital entries ( no mailed DVDs)
Make sure your screener is available online, as well as accurate contact info and support material on your FilmFreeway project pages. For the live screening we make one single master film to include all the finalist films to streamline everything), so if we request a download of your film that is why. If you don’t respond on a timely fashion we may not be able to include it.

Because we will be having a live screening of the finalists, we have strict length requirements:
• Short films and Documentaries – Maximum of 10 mins
• Minute Films, PSAs – Maximum of 1 min

If your film is not in English, we ask that you please subtitle it in English so we can better appreciate it.

FAQ

Will you post my short on-line for the public to see? No. However, if you are one of the finalists and would like us to post your publicly available film on our FB page we are happy to.

My short has already screened at another festival or available online. Can I still enter? Yes. We have no premiere eligibility requirements.

What short length eligibility requirements do you have? 10 mins MAX for short films, 1 min MAX for PSA and Micro-shorts.

Do you accept Works in progress? No- it has to be a fully completed work

Will my short be screened?As we get more submissions than we have time to screen, only finalists will be screened live.

Exhibition format?If your short is selected we will send you an email with specifications; we will need it provided as a downloadable file, and if you film has non-English dialogue it will need to have English subtitles.

When is your notification date and what is the notification process? The notification date is by September 30th, and will be sent electronically via Film Freeway.